Apricot Crumble Muffins

I am openly and quite unashamedly mad about muffins.

They are a doddle to make once you grasp it, and for me they upstage cup cakes by a mile – low in fat, fruity, soft, squidgy, light and airy. My only problem is deciding which ones I like best. You can make these with ready-to-eat dried apricots, but in the summer they are even better made with fresh.

Method

With muffins it’s always a good idea to have everything weighed out and ready before you start.

To make the crumble topping, mix the sugar, flour, baking powder and cinnamon together in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter with a fork, followed by the chopped nuts.

Next sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt into a bowl, lifting the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing.

Now, in another bowl whisk together the egg, sugar, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Then return the dry ingredients to the sieve and sift them straight into the egg mixture. (This double sifting is crucial because we won’t be doing much mixing.)

What you now need to do is take a large metal spoon and fold the dry ingredients quickly into the wet ones – the key word here is quickly (i.e. in about 15 seconds).

What you mustn’t do is beat or stir the mixture – just do the folding, and ignore the uneven appearance of the mixture because that’s precisely what makes the muffins really light. Over-mixing is where people go wrong.

Next, quickly fold in the finely chopped apricots and pecan nuts – again no stirring. Now divide the mixture between the muffin cases.

Then sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over each muffin, and bake near the centre of the oven for 25–30 minutes until well-risen and golden brown.

Have you seen...

Italy is rightly famous for its regional food specialities. But how do you know you're buying the real deal?

The key is to look for the distinctive red and yellow PDO mark - Protected Designation of Origin. It’s your guarantee of authentic regional flavour, perfected over centuries and made to exacting traditional standards.